CHAPTER III
FISHERMAN'S LUCK
A fisherman was whipping the stream of the Rio Chama.
In his creel were a dozen trout, for the speckled beauties had beenrising to the fly that skipped across the top of the riffles asnaturally as life. He wore waders, gray flannel shirt, and khaki coat.As he worked up the stream he was oftener in its swirling waters than onthe shore. But just now the fish were no longer striking.
"Time to grub, anyhow. I'll give them a rest for a while. They'll likelybe on the job again soon," he told himself as he waded ashore.
A draw here ran down to the river, and its sunny hillside tempted him toeat his lunch farther up.
Into the little basin in which he found himself the sun had pouredshafts of glory to make a very paradise of color. Down by the riversidethe willows were hesitating between green and bronze. Russet and brownand red peppered the slopes, but shades of yellow predominated in thegulch itself.
The angler ate his sandwiches leisurely, and stretched his lithe bodyluxuriantly on the ground for a _siesta_. When he resumed his occupationthe sun had considerably declined from the meridian. The fish were againbiting, and he landed two in as many minutes.
The bed of the river had been growing steeper, and at the upper entranceof the little park he came to the first waterfall he had seen. Abovethis, on the opposite side, was a hole that looked inviting. He decidedthat a dead tree lying across the river would, at a pinch, serve for abridge, and he ventured upon it. Beneath his feet the rotting bark gaveway. He found himself falling, tried desperately to balance himself, andplunged head first into the river.
Coming to the surface, he caught at a rock which jutted from thechannel. At this point the water was deep and the current swift. Were heto let loose of the boulder he must be swept over the fall before hecould reach the shore. Nor could he long maintain his position againstthe rush of the ice-cold waters fresh from the mountain snow fields.
He had almost made up his mind to take his chances with the fall, when aclear cry came ringing to him:
"_No suelte!_"
A figure was flying down the slope toward him--the slim, graceful formof a woman. As she ran she caught up a stick from the ground. This sheheld out to him from the bank.
He shook his head.
"I would only drag you in."
She put her fingers to her mouth and gave a clear whistle. Far up on theslope a pony lifted its head and nickered. Again her whistle shrilled,and the bronco trotted down toward her.
"Can you hold on?" she asked in English.
He was chilled to the marrow, but he answered quietly: "I reckon."
She was gone, swift-footed as a deer, to meet the descending animal. Hesaw her swing to the saddle and lean over it as the pace quickened to agallop.
He did not know her fingers were busy preparing the rawhide lariat thatdepended from the side of the saddle. On the very bank she brought upwith a jerk that dragged her mount together, and at the same momentslipped to the ground.
Running open the noose of the lariat, she dropped it surely over hisshoulders. The other end of the rope was fastened to the saddle-horn,and the cow-pony, used to roping and throwing steers, braced itself withwide-planted front feet for the shock.
"Can you get your arm through the loop?" cried the girl.
His arms were like lead, and almost powerless. With one hand he knew hecould not hang on. Nor did he try longer than for that one desperateinstant when he shot his fist through the loop. The wall of water swepthim away, but the taut rope swung him shoreward.
Little hands caught hold of him and fought with the strong current forthe body of the almost unconscious man; fought steadily and strongly,for there was strength in the small wrists and compact muscle in theshapely arms. She was waist deep in the water before she won, for fromabove she could find no purchase for the lift.
The fisherman's opening eyes looked into dark anxious ones that gazed athim from beneath the longest lashes he had ever seen. He had an oddsense of being tangled up in them and being unable to escape, of beingboth abashed and happy in his imprisonment. What he thought was: "Theydon't have eyes like those out of heaven." What he said was entirelydifferent.
"Near thing. Hadn't been for you I wouldn't have made it."
At his words she rose from her knees to her full height, and he saw thatshe was slenderly tall and fashioned of gracious curves. The darkness ofher clear skin was emphasized by the mass of blue-black hair from whichlittle ears peeped with exquisite daintiness. The mouth was sweet andcandid, red-lipped, with perfect teeth just showing in the full arch.The straight nose, with its sensitive nostrils, proclaimed her purepatrician.
"You are wet," he cried. "You went in after me."
She looked down at her dripping skirts, and laughter rippled over herface like the wind in golden grain. It brought out two adorable dimplesnear the tucked-in corners of her mouth.
"I am damp," she conceded.
"Why did you do it? The water might have swept you away," he chided,coming to a sitting posture.
"And if I hadn't it might have swept you away," she answered, with aflash of her ivory teeth.
He rose and stood before her.
"You risked your life to save mine."
"Is it not worth it, sir?"
"That ain't for me to say. The point is, you took the chance."
Her laughter bubbled again. "You mean, I took the bath."
"I expect you'll have to listen to what I've got to say, ma'am."
"Are you going to scold me? Was I precipitate? Perhaps you wereattempting suicide. Forgive, I pray."
He ignored her raillery, and told her what he thought of a courage sofine and ready. He permitted a smile to temper his praise, as he added:"You mustn't go jumping in the river after strangers if you don't wantthem to say, 'Thank you kindly.' You find four out of five of them wantto, don't you?"
"It is not yet a habit of mine. You're the first"
"I hope I'll be the last."
She began to wring out the bottom of her skirt, and he was on his kneesat once to do it for her.
"That will do very nicely," she presently said, the color billowing hercheeks.
He gathered wood and lit a fire, being fortunate enough to find hismatch-case had been waterproof. He piled on dry branches till the fireroared and licked out for the moisture in their clothes.
"I've been wondering how you happened to see me in the water," he said."You were riding past, I expect?"
"No, I was sketching. I saw you when you came up to eat your lunch, andI watched you go back to the river."
"Do you live near here, then?" he asked.
"About three miles away."
"And you were watching me all the time?" He put his statement as aquestion.
"No, I wasn't," the young woman answered indignantly. "You happened tobe in the landscape."
"A blot in it," he suggested. "A hop-toad splashing in the puddle."
The every-ready dimples flashed out at this. "You did make quite asplash when you went in. The fish must have thought it was a whale."
"And when I told you the water was fine, and you came in, too, theyprobably took you for a naiad."
She thanked him with an informal little nod.
"I thought you Anglo-Saxons did not give compliments."
"I don't," he immediately answered.
"Oh! If that isn't another one, I'm mistaken, sir." She turnedindifferently away, apparently of the opinion that she had been quitefriendly enough to this self-possessed young stranger.
Rewinding the lariat, she fastened it to the saddle, then swung to theseat before he could step forward to aid her.
"I hope you will suffer no bad effects from your bath," he said.
"I shall not; but I'm afraid you will. You were in long enough to getthoroughly chilled. _Adios, senor_."
He called to her before the pony had taken a dozen steps:
"Your handkerchief, _senorita_!"
She turned in the sadd
le and waited for him to bring it. He did so, andshe noticed that he limped badly.
"You have hurt yourself," she said quickly.
"I must have jammed my knee against a rock," he explained. "Nothingserious."
"But it pains?"
"Just enough to let me know it's there."
Frowning, she watched him.
"Is it a bruise or a sprain?"
"A wrench, I think. It will be all right if I favor it"
"Favor it? Except the ranch, there is no place nearer than seven miles.You are staying at Corbett's, I presume?"
"Yes."
"You can't walk back there to-night. That is certain." She slipped fromthe saddle. "You'll have to go back to the ranch with me, sir. I canwalk very well."
He felt a wave of color sweep his face.
"I couldn't take the horse and let you walk."
"That is nonsense, sir. You can, and you shall."
"If I am to take your horse I need not saddle myself upon yourhospitality. I can ride back to Corbett's, and send the horse hometo-morrow."
"It is seven miles to Miguel's, and Corbett's is three beyond that. Nodoctor would advise that long ride before your knee receives attention,I think, sir, you will have to put up with the ranch till to-morrow."
"You ain't taking my intention right. All I meant was that I didn't liketo unload myself on your folks; but if you say I'm to do it I'll be veryhappy to be your guest." He said it with a touch of boyish embarrassmentshe found becoming.
"We'll stop at the top of the hill and take on my drawing things," shetold him.
He need have had no fears for her as a walker, for she was of the electfew born to grace of motion. Slight she was, yet strong; the delicacythat breathed from her was of the spirit, and consisted with perfecthealth. No Grecian nymph could have trod with lighter or surer step norhave unconsciously offered to the eye more supple and beautiful lines oflimb and body.
Never had the young man seen before anybody whose charm went sopoignantly to the root of his emotions. Every turn of the head, the setof the chin, the droop of the long, thick lashes on the soft cheek, thefling of a gesture, the cadence of her voice; they all delighted andfascinated him. She was a living embodiment of joy-in-life, of lovepersonified.
She packed her sketches and her paraphernalia with businesslikedirectness, careless of whether he did or did not see her water-colors.A movement of his hand stayed her as she took from, the easel the oneupon which she had been engaged.
It represented the sun-drenched slope below them, with the little gulchdressed riotously in its gala best of yellows.
"You've got that fine," he told her enthusiastically.
She shook her head, unmoved by praise which did not approve itself toher judgment as merited.
"No, I didn't get it at all. A great artist might get the wonder of it;but I can't."
"It looks good to me," he said.
"Then I'm afraid you're not a judge," she smiled.
From where they stood a trail wound along the ridge and down into avalley beyond. At the farther edge of this, nestling close to the hillsthat took root there, lay the houses of a ranch.
"That is where I live," she told him.
He thought it a lovely spot, almost worthy of her, but obviously hecould not tell her so. Instead, he voiced an alien thought that happenedto intrude:
"Do you know Senorita Valdes? But of course you must."
She flung a quick glance at him, questioning.
"Yes, I know her."
"She lives somewhere round here, too, does she not?"
Her arm swept round in a comprehensive gesture. "Over that way, too."
"Do you know her well?"
An odd smile dimpled her face.
"Sometimes I think I do, and then again I wonder."
"I have been told she is beautiful."
"Beauty is in the beholder's eyes, _senor_. Valencia Valdes is as Heavenmade her."
"I have no doubt; but Heaven took more pains with some of us thanothers--it appears."
Again the dark eyes under the long lashes swept him from the curly headto the lean, muscular hands, and approved silently the truth of hisobservation. The clean lithe build of the man, muscles packed so thatthey rippled smoothly like those of a panther, appealed to her trainedeyes. So, too, did the quiet, steady eyes in the bronzed face, holdingas they did the look of competent alertness that had come from years offrontier life.
"You are interested in Miss Valdes?" she asked politely.
"In a way of speaking, I am. She is one of the reasons why I came here."
"Indeed! She would no doubt be charmed to know of your interest," stillwith polite detachment.
"My interest ain't exactly personal; then again it is," he contributed.
"A sort of an impersonal personal interest?"
"Yes; though I don't quite know what that means."
"Then I can't be expected to," she laughed.
His laughter joined hers; but presently he recurred to his question:
"You haven't told me yet about Miss Valdes. Is she as lovely as they sayshe is?"
"I don't know just how lovely they say she is. Sometimes I have thoughther very passable; then again--" She broke off with a defiant littlelaugh. "Don't you know, sir, that you mustn't ask one lady to praise thebeauty of another?"
"I suppose I may ask questions?" he said, much amused.
"It depends a little on the questions."
"Is she tall?"
"Rather. About as tall as I am."
"And dark, of course, since she is a Spanish _senorita_"
"Yes, she is dark."
"Slim and graceful, I expect?"
"She is slender."
"I reckon she banks a heap on that blue blood of hers?"
"Yes; she is prouder of it than there is really any need of, though Ithink probably her pride is unconscious and a matter of habit."
"I haven't been able to make out yet whether you like her," he laughed.
"I don't see what my liking has to do with it."
"I expect to meet her, and I want to use your judgment to base mine on."
"Oh, you expect to meet her?"
She said it lightly, yet with a certain emphasis that he noted.
"Don't you think she will let me? Do I have to show blue blood before Ican be presented? One of my ancestors came over on the _Mayflower_. Willthat do?"
Her raillery met his.
"That ought to do, I should think. I suppose you have broughtgenealogical proofs with you?"
"I clean forgot. Won't you please get on and ride now? I feel like afalse alarm, playing the invalid on you, ma'am."
"No; I'll walk. We're almost at the ranch. It's just under this hill.But there's one thing I want to ask of you as a favor."
"It's yours," he replied briefly.
She seemed to struggle with some emotion before she spoke:
"Please don't mention Valencia Valdes while you are at the ranch. I--Ihave reasons, sir."
"Certainly; I'll do as you prefer."
To himself he thought that there was probably a feud of some kindbetween the two families that might make a mention of the nameunpleasant. "And that reminds me that I don't know what your name is.Mine is Muir--Richard Muir."
"And mine is Maria Yuste."
He offered her his brown hand. "I'm right happy to meet you, SenoritaMaria."
"Welcome to the Yuste _hacienda, senor_. What is ours is yours, so longas you are our guest. I pray you make yourself at home," she said asthey rode into the courtyard.
Two Mexican lads came running forward; and one whom she called Pedrotook the horse, while the other went into the house to attend to a quickcommand she gave in Spanish.
The man who had named himself Richard Muir followed his hostess througha hall, across an open court, and into a living-room carpeted withNavajo rugs, at the end of which was a great open fireplace bearing aSpanish motto across it.
Large windows, set three feet deep in the thick ad
obe walls, were filledwith flowers or padded with sofa pillows for seats. One of these hishostess indicated to the limping man.
"If you will be seated here for the present, sir, your room will beready very soon."
A few minutes later the fisherman found himself in a large bedroom. Hewas seated in an easy-chair before a crackling fire of _pinon_ knots.
A messenger had been dispatched for a doctor, Senorita Yuste had toldhim, and in the meantime he was to make himself quite at home.